Keneshia Grant, Ph.D. is an associate professor of political science at Howard University. She studies the political impact of Black migration in the United States and her research focus is the political impact of Black migration from 1915 to the present. Keneshia is author of The Great Migration and the Democratic Party: Black Voters and the Realignment of American Politics in the 20th Century (Temple University Press, 2020), which describes Black Americans’ movement into the Democratic Party in the 20th century as a function of their migration to northern cities. Keneshia’s current work questions how return migration, gentrification, and displacement affect civic engagement among Black populations in cities and inner-ring suburbs. Keneshia is a regular media contributor, frequently quoted in national print news outlets and appearing on MSNBC and the Canadian Broadcast Corporation.
Grant has a passion for education and politics that was born out of her early experiences, growing up in South Florida. Raised by a single mother, Keneshia quickly learned that getting an education and understanding the political process would be the keys to a better life for herself and her community.
A first-generation college graduate, Keneshia earned a bachelor’s degree in political science and a master’s degree in public administration at Florida A&M University (FAMU). During her time at FAMU, she was active in many campus activities. She served in the Student Government Association as the student body vice president and pledged the Beta Alpha Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated. As a graduate student, Keneshia was appointed to the Florida Governor’s Access and Diversity Committee, where she was instrumental in the conception and passage of legislation that led to Florida’s first-generation matching grant.
At the completion of her Master of Public Administration, The FAMU Department of History and Political Science offered Keneshia a position as a visiting assistant professor. This early exposure to the profession of academia changed her career trajectory and motivated her to pursue a PhD. As a member of FAMU’s faculty, she taught several courses in American Government and Public Administration. She also served as faculty advisor to the FAMU Student Government.
After working as a visiting assistant professor for two years, Keneshia went to Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs to pursue a PhD in American politics and public administration.
During her time at the Maxwell School, she won numerous awards for her work as a teacher and scholar including: the 2012 Ronald E. McNair Graduate Research Fellowship, the 2012 Syracuse University Outstanding Teaching Assistant award, as well as fellowships from the Presidential libraries of John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson. Keneshia’s dissertation, “Relocation & Realignment: How the Great Migration Changed the Face of the Democratic Party,” describes how the mass migration of Black Americans out of the South from the 1940s through the 1960s helped motivate the Democratic Party’s liberal development on racial issues. In 2013, Keneshia accepted a position as a Commissioner's Special Assistant at the United States Commission on Civil Rights. There, she learned more about current civil rights issues and completed her dissertation.
Political Science, American Politics & Public Administration
Syracuse University
2014
Public Administration
Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU)
2006
Political Science
Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU)
2005
Comparison and analysis of government organization and operations, intergovernmental relations, political participation, policies, and fiscal management.
Course Goals:Make students thoughtful and critical consumers of news and information about politics, especially at the state and local levels.Make students aware of their roles and responsibilities as participants in the American electorate.
National Conference of Black Political Scientists
Division of Social Sciences, College of Arts & Sciences, Howard University.
HBCU Digest
Competitive university fellowship awarded by the Office of the Associate Provost for Research and Graduate Studies to Assistant Professors in the year before their tenure.
Competitive university fellowship awarded annually by the Office of the Associate Provost for Research and Graduate Studies to launch programs or finish a project involving their research.
Read: Howard Magazine | Alignment or Realignment? Faculty Member Keneshia Grant’s Research Explores Where and Why Blacks Vote
Read: The Washington Post | Juneteenth brings together many celebrations, and reminders of the work still ahead
Read: The Washington Post | The real reason people object to Biden’s veep choices: Racism
Read: The New York Times | Ambition Has Always Been ‘Ladylike’
Watch: C-Span | Keneshia Grant on Race, Gender and Politics
Read: Los Angeles Times | ‘Lawyerly, sharp mind’ or ‘dumb as a rock’? The ugly race to recast Harris is underway
Watch: ITV | 'I know Trump's type,' says Harris as Biden makes first remarks since quitting race
Watch: MSNBC | The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell, 11/19/21
This book examines how the mass movement of African Americans from the South to the North from approximately 1915 to 1970--the movement commonly known as the Great Migration--helped change the relative positions and policy stances on racial politics for the major American political parties
Although scholars of American politics have revised the dominant narrative about the development of the Democratic Party on issues related to race, they fail to account for the role of Black voters in contributing to the Party’s change. The goal of this work is to describe how the Great Migration influenced Democratic Party interactions with Black voters in presidential elections from 1948–1960.
2020: The Great Migration, Northern cities & Democratic Party realignment, 1915-1965. Author Meets Critics for The Great Migration and the Democratic Party: Black Voters and the Realignment of American Politics in the 20th Century. Annual Meeting of the American
Political Science Association.
2020: New Insights on Black Politics: A Conversation with Book Authors on the “Back Bone” of the Democratic Party. Roundtable Sponsored by the Committee on the Status of Blacks in the Profession. Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association.
2020: Hine/Horne Roundtable Discussion of The Great Migration and the Democratic Party.
Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH). Annual
Conference.
2018: “Political Externalities: Black Migration's Impact on American Politics,” Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association, Boston, MA.
2016: “Political Impacts of the Great Migration, 1915-1965: Migrants as Officeholders,” Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association, Philadelphia, PA.
2016: “The Impact of the Great Migration on Chicago Politics: Examining Mayoral Candidates’ Interaction with the Black Electorate from 1915-1971,” National Conference of Black Political Scientists, Jackson, MS.
Keneshia Grant, an associate professor of political science at Howard University, spoke with News4's Shawn Yancy about what comes next for VP Kamala Harris as Biden leaves the race.
Scholars Marcia Chatelain and Keneshia Grant joined the Brennan Center’s Theodore R. Johnson to discuss the mass movement of Southern blacks to Northern cities at the turn of the 20th century, and the ways in which this spurred seismic cultural, economic, and political changes that continue to reverberate today.
A powerful conversation about choice, resilience, and defining family on your own terms.
The significance of the Nevada caucus to the Democratic presidential race.
Mueller's testimony and the state of the 2020 election from the Ohio voters' perspective.
How the nation moves forward under a new administration.
Keneshia M. Grant speaks to the National Conference of Black Political Scientists about demographics and party strategy.
Dr. Keneshia Grant delivers a presentation to the Northumberland Learning Connection.
CGTN's Rachelle Akuffo spoke with Keneshia Grant, assistant professor of Political Science at Howard University about the role of New Hampshire primary in the U.S. presidential election.
If Derek Chauvin is not convicted this week, Howard University professor Keneshia Grant thinks it will be because the system is set up for his freedom.
Dr. Grant gives us her insight into how she exudes “Excellence with Caring.”
